"Vicious, evil black-haired woman."
On the slope near Toyogasaki High School, Eriri Spencer, who'd woken to find it nearly past six, carried her schoolbag while glaring furiously at Utaha Kasumigaoka beside her.
"Are you a child? Holding grudges like this?" Utaha sighed helplessly. "Didn't I already apologise at the club?"
"If apologies worked, what would we need the police for?"
Eriri huffed angrily at Utaha, clearly having designated her as public enemy number one.
"As fellow club members, I don't think there's any deep-seated grudge between us."
Utaha Kasumigaoka held her school bag, glanced at Eriri, then revealed an amused smile:
"Could it be... you're afraid?"
"Worried I'll use my Mind Reading ability to uncover your secrets and expose them?"
Hearing this, Eriri immediately bristled:
"So you finally admit it! I knew it was you."
"Eh?" Utaha blinked in confusion, utterly lost.
Meanwhile, Eriri stomped her foot in frustration, deliberately lowering her voice after checking that the nearest person was across the street:
"I wondered how Luo Shu knew I was Eri Kashiwagi. Turns out he had this shady mind-reading girl helping him."
"This..." Utaha felt like she'd been unfairly blamed out of nowhere.
How had Luo Shu's actions suddenly become her fault? This was outright framing!
"See? Speechless now, aren't you?"
Eriri looked at Utaha with disdain, her expression screaming 'case closed':
"Not only did you invade my private thoughts, you even scared me unconscious that one time. Damn it, I won't let you get away with this."
"...So we're just assuming it's me now?"
Utaha could only laugh bitterly at this point.
She never imagined she'd be shouldering this blame.
Yet frustratingly, Utaha couldn't even offer a proper rebuttal - if she were in Eriri's position, she'd probably suspect herself too.
How awkward.
Under Eriri's hostile glare, Utaha followed her helplessly into a nearby park.
There, they found Luo Shu sitting by the fountain's edge, having apparently used Wind Element Manipulation to discreetly arrive from another direction.
"Yo~"
Luo Shu raised his hand in greeting, then said cheerfully:
"The remaining students are buzzing about how Toyogasaki's two beauties left school together. Any comments from the ladies involved?"
"Hmph!" Eriri turned her head away irritably, clearly disliking being grouped with Utaha.
Meanwhile, Utaha sighed and redirected her frustration at Luo Shu:
"If Senior wanted to avoid trouble, he could have just left school with us properly."
"If I wanted to avoid trouble, leaving with you two would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?"
Luo Shu retorted while pulling two exquisitely crafted silver bracelets from his pocket, tossing one to each girl:
"Catch!"
"Eh?" X2
Utaha and Eriri fumbled to catch them, then looked up at Luo Shu in confusion.
"These are access passes to our base. Normally, just stand by the classroom door while thinking about entering the base."
"Additionally, they connect to my internal system for communication and forum access. I've already deposited your first month's 50 points into your accounts."
"By the way, the bracelet also has an emergency evacuation function, but it costs 5 points. In situations like this, I recommend you always keep 5 points reserved in your account for a quick escape when needed."
"I've tested this myself just now, and it works."
'Though running here just to teleport back and then run here again is a bit hard on the legs...' Luo Shu grumbled inwardly.
Hearing Luo Shu's words, both Eriri and Utaha Kasumigaoka looked at the bracelets on their wrists with surprise.
After studying it for a while and confirming that the so-called internal forum could be directly projected onto their retinas, Eriri immediately put it on and sighed with emotion:
"I have to admit, gloomy girl, you were right. Our president really does have a talent for leadership."
To create such a miraculous bracelet so soon after parting—is Luo Shu some kind of omnipotent Doraemon?
"At a time like this, could you at least call me Senior Kasumigaoka instead of gloomy girl, Sawamura-kun?"
Utaha Kasumigaoka retorted before turning to Luo Shu and asking:
"How many points did these two bracelets cost?"
Luo Shu stood up, patted the dust off his trousers, and replied:
"Average price of 1,000 points—not too high."
"Consider it a fringe benefit for full-time employees."
"You..." Utaha sounded like a wife helplessly watching her husband splurge recklessly.
They hadn't even seen much return yet, and Luo Shu was already spending so freely. Did he really not treat points as money?
Hearing Utaha's indulgent tone, Eriri's gaze at the two of them suddenly changed:
'Are these two involved or something?'
Although the earlier induction had clarified that Luo Shu and Utaha were just superior and subordinate, the way Utaha spoke now made it clear she didn't see herself as an outsider to Luo Shu.
That single "You..." carried so much implication that Eriri could already imagine a 200,000-word romance novel.
At the same time, Luo Shu also felt a strange itch in his heart at Utaha's tone. Suppressing the odd feeling, he said to them:
"Alright, the bracelets are yours, so I should probably get going now."
"Where to?" Utaha instinctively asked before realising Luo Shu actually had his own place to return to—he didn't need to go back with her.
"To work." Luo Shu shrugged with a sigh. "I left early from my bookstore shift yesterday, so I'll have to explain things to the manager. Oh, and I should probably hand in my resignation, too."
'The leader of a secret organisation actually works part-time at a bookstore... This is...' Eriri found reality truly bizarre.
A good girl like her secretly drew doujinshi, while the head of a mysterious organisation openly worked at a bookstore.
The world really was strange...
Meanwhile, Utaha, now aware of her own clinginess, feigned calm and said:
"I see, official business then. In that case, I won't keep you."
"Take care on your way, Senior."
"I will."
'This conversation feels a bit off...' Luo Shu inwardly complained before waving and walking out of the park towards the station.
Watching Luo Shu's retreating figure until he was far away, Eriri couldn't help but ask:
"So, we're going our separate ways here?"
"Might as well. You need to go home and sort out your thoughts, don't you?"
Hearing Utaha Kasumigaoka's reply, Eriri pursed her lips before parting ways with her.
The three founding members of the Astronomy Club walked away from the park to their respective lives.
As the sunset fell, their shadows gradually lengthened.
It seemed as if nothing had changed, yet change appeared to be beginning.